It's not that there are no other things happening in the tennis world, a match won by Dinara Safina really is big news – unfortunately, the Russian hadn't done so in months, since September 2010.

Today at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur, the former number one Safina even posted a bagel, against a 125th ranked player that is, but considering that Safina is world number 113 right now, it's not a small deal. With a 6-2 6-0 victory over 20-year-old Han Xinyun, Safina advanced to the second round of the $220,000 International-level event and put an end to a six-match losing streak.

Safina's next opponent will be fifth seed Lucie Safarova.

Three seeds advanced to the second round on Tuesday: No.2 Marion Bartoli beat Maria Elena Camerin 6-0 6-1, No.3 and defending champion Alisa Kleybanova defeated Lu Jing-Jing 6-1 6-1, and No.8 Bojana Jovanovski took out Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-0 6-1. Seventh seed Kimiko Date Krumm fell to Anne Kremer 4-6 6-2 7-6(5). (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Jelena Dokic recorded her first Top 5 victory in eight years by coming from a set down and beating fifth-ranked Francesca Schiavone 2-6 7-6(1) 6-4 in the first round of the Malaysian Open. The former world No.4 Dokic has actually retained her perfect record against the Italian, but their last meeting before today's one was ten years ago in Moscow. Dokic is 3-0 head-to-head against Schiavone now.

The 27-year-old Dokic, currently world No.91, had played six WTA events in 2011 prior to Kuala Lumpur and never won more than one match in the main draw except for the Paris Open where she reached the quarterfinals, beating Top 20 and Top 30 players on the way. She fell to Kim Clijsters then, who became No.1 by winning the match.

The Australian is grateful for her current form and is looking for a steady improvement:

I'm still not as consistent as I want to be - there are still some weeks where I don't play up to my high standard. But this year I'm playing WTA events every week and it's making a difference. Thank God, no injuries… my body is great and hopefully it will stay that way.

(source: WTA Tour, photo: Tidalist)

Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova overcame both a rain delay and top-seeded compatriot Elena Dementieva to win her first WTA title at the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

The fourth-seeded Kleybanova survived some tough matches prior to the final, but in the title match she dominated one of the best players at the moment and cruised to a 6-3 6-2 victory.

Prior to the clash with heavy-hitting world No.29 Kleybanova, the seventh-ranked Dementieva hadn’t dropped a set in Kuala Lumpur and actually lost only an average of less than two games per set.

Before the 2010 Malaysian Open, Kleybanova’s best career singles results were semifinal finishes at Fès, Toronto and Moscow. (photo AP via Yahoo)

Fellow tennis blogger, HCFoo from Malaysia, was privileged to attend surprise birthday bash for China's Li Na.

Together with line judges, ballboys and ballgirls, media and organizers, HCFoo sang a birthday song for the 28-year-old Li, both in Malaysian and in English.

The bouquet of flowers you see in front of Li Na is from our fellow blogger.

Happy birthday from Women’s Tennis Blog as well. We're wishing you to advance further within the Top 10!